Molecular structure and vibrational investigation of benzenesulfonic acid methyl ester using DFT (LSDA, B3LYP, B3PW91 and MPW1PW91) theory calculations

The FT-Raman and FT-IR spectra for benzenesulfonic acid methyl ester (BSAME) have been recorded in the region 4000-100 cm−1 and compared with the harmonic vibrational frequencies calculated using DFT (LSDA, B3LYP, B3PW91 and MPW1PW91) method by employing 6-311G (d, p) basis set with appropriate scale factors. IR intensities and Raman activities are also calculated by DFT (LSDA, B3LYP, B3PW91 and MPW1PW91) methods. Optimized geometries of the molecule have been interpreted and compared with the reported experimental values for sulfonic acid and some substituted sulfonic acids. The experimental geometrical parameters show satisfactory agreement with the theoretical prediction from DFT. The scaled vibrational frequencies at LSDA/B3LYP/6-311G (d, p) seem to coincide with the experimentally observed values with acceptable deviations. The theoretical spectrograms (IR and Raman) have been constructed and compared with the experimental FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. Some of the vibrational frequencies of the sulfonic acid are effected upon profusely with the methyl substitution in comparison to benzene sulfonamide and these differences are interpreted.